


the one where Peter comes out

by Iwillseduceyouwithmyweirdness



Series: Gay Disaster Peter Parker [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Coming Out, Gay Peter Parker, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Internalized Homophobia, Iron Dad, M/M, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:30:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060164
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iwillseduceyouwithmyweirdness/pseuds/Iwillseduceyouwithmyweirdness
Summary: Peter doesn't usually let Tony ask him about crushes or dating, but when he turns up to the compound sporting a badly concealed hickey, he figures it's time to get him to talk, but the outcome isn't quite what he expected.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hey, so this is just a quick idea that i couldn't get out of my head! there is like the briefest reference to self harm in this, but it's pretty subtle. just be careful if that sort of thing bothers you. There is also internalized homophobia, so be aware of that! other than that, this is just a quick comfort break in between me writing the more heavy spiderman fic i'm working on. I hope you like this!

Tony doesn’t like to think about the fact that his kid might be sexually active. Peter’s seventeen, so he knows that it’s a likelihood. But he and Peter are close, and he’s never heard the kid mention anything about dating or girls before. Not that Tony hasn’t tried to find out if he has a crush on this MJ character that Peter spends half his time texting or gushing about. Whenever the subject is brought up, however, Peter just shuts down completely. Tony knows that his kid is the king of deflection, but sometimes he doesn’t even try to deflect – he just stops talking, instead focusing on the messages on his phone until the silence is awkward enough that Tony is relieved when he finally stops the silent treatment, picking another topic to talk about at random.

 

So, Peter’s love life is effectively off limits. But that isn’t to say that Tony isn’t extremely curious as to whether Peter is dating.

 

His curiosity is piqued when Peter waltzes in to the lab on a typical Saturday with a hickey that he had obviously tried to hide with shitty drugstore make up. Peter seems nonchalant, playing on his phone as he sits next to his mentor, grunting out a greeting as he passes. Tony knows that this is the only opening to this conversation that he’s going to get; given Peter’s advanced healing, the bruise will be gone within a matter of hours, and he figures that he might as well ask while he has evidence to back up his questions.

 

 _Should they be having The Talk TM, _Tony asks himself, his palms already beginning to sweat. He was never good at this kind of emotional stuff, especially not with someone he views as a son (although he’ll never admit that part out loud). ‘Plug the suit in, kiddo, I’ve made some modifications to Karen’s programming that I’d like to install.’

 

Peter hums, placing his phone on the table so he can use two hands to drag the suit out from his rucksack. He’s half way through attaching the wires when his phone buzzes and his hands still. Tony watches out of the corner of his eye, hyper aware that Peter usually is far more interested in their work than whatever snapchat he’s just received. ‘Pete,’ he prompts, watching as the kid abandons his work in favour of tapping some sort of response on his phone. ‘ _Peter,_ ’ Tony says again, this time with more overt frustration in his tone.

 

To his credit, Peter looks guilty when he glances up at Tony. ‘Sorry,’ he murmurs sheepishly, placing his phone back on the table.

 

This time, when his phone lights up and buzzes again, Peter purposefully doesn’t look up from the wires he’s attaching to the suit. This gives Tony a fraction of a second to read the start of the text and the user ID before the phone screen goes dark again.

 

**Message from: MJ**

 

_Oh shit man, you’re in trouble if he asks…_

 

Tony has a feeling he knows who and what is being discussed, but he lets Peter continue his work for the moment, making idle chatter while he changes the spider suit settings.

 

It isn’t until half an hour (and a dozen more texts where Peter completely zones out until he’s replied) later that Tony brings up the hickey. His timing is no accident; the suit needed time to install the new software, and they would both have to wait for it to finish before Tony could start showing Peter the new Iron Man modifications they planned to work on together.

 

Peter’s phone buzzed again, and the screen was near enough that Tony could read the start of the message again.

 

**Message from: MJ**

_Dude, you need to tell him, he’s not gonna…_

 

This time, Peter noticed his mentor reading the part of the message that could be seen from the lock screen, and he scrambled to snatch his phone out of view. _It’s now or never,_ Tony thought. ‘So, Pete, are you and MJ like – a _thing_ – now or something?’ Tony made sure to keep his gaze just to the left of Peter, so as not to put too much pressure on him. From this angle, he could only see half of the kid’s face, but it was enough to let him see the tense smile that crossed it at his question.

 

‘No,’ Peter let out a short huff of a laugh. It was a little too humourless to settle Tony’s nerves.

 

‘Oh,’ he said, wracking his brains for a question that would keep him talking, given that this was the longest response he’d ever gotten out of the kid on the subject of relationships. ‘Do you like her?’

 

‘Obviously, she’s one of my best friends.’ _Okay, so Peter was going to play dumb with him._ Tony could get around that, as long as he kept him talking.

 

‘No, do you _like-like_ her?’

 

Peter scoffed. ‘What is this middle school?’

 

‘So you do?’

 

‘No, Mr Stark.’

 

Tony didn’t know what to think about the formal address – sometimes Peter still called him Mr Stark, but it was rare now that they were so close. It made something in his chest feel a little uneasy; he was obviously on thin ice and would have to tread carefully. ‘Pete,’ he said with a sigh. ‘I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but it’s fairly obvious that you’ve got a hickey, and I just want to make sure you’re safe.’

 

Peter wrinkled his nose. ‘I am safe.’

 

Tony glanced away, giving the kid some breathing space. ‘Good because I don’t want to hear that you’ve knocked anyone up.’

 

 _‘“Knocked anyone up”_? What is this, 2007?’ Despite the smirk that Peter shot him, Tony knew that something was still _off_ about his behaviour.

 

‘So I don’t know if school has said yet, but you need to use a–’

 

‘ _Mr Stark!_ Please stop talking.’

 

Tony chuckled slightly. ‘Pete, you need to use protection every –’

 

‘ _Stop!_ ’ Peter all but shouted, covering his ears and blushing deeply. ‘Mr Stark, there is no way I’m going to _knock anyone up._ ’ Tony could see mirth in his expression, but he got the feeling that Peter was only half joking around with him, and the thought that he was deliberately going out of his way to hide something set his teeth on edge.

 

‘Kid,’ he continued anyway, keeping his tone light and conversational, despite the fact he was watching Peter closely for any kind of reaction. ‘Contraception is never 100% effective and –’

 

‘No, really, I’m not going to get anyone pregnant.’ Peter said, glancing down to send another text.

 

Tony could tell that he was losing him. If he didn’t think of a question quickly, Peter would sink into another excruciatingly awkward silence, and who knew how long that would last. ‘So who’s the lucky lady?’

 

Peter’s expression changed from one of amused embarrassment to one of frustration in a matter of seconds.

 

 _Peter looks pissed,_ Tony thought vaguely. And then it occurred to him why Peter was wearing a look that was anger and shame and defiance all in equal measure. He’d seen that look before.

 

Peter’s phone buzzed twice in quick succession on the table between them. Neither of them made a move to hide the screen, and Tony shamelessly read the beginning of both texts.

 

**Message from: MJ**

_Mate, he’s a fucking liberal. Just tell him you’re…_

**Message from: MJ**

 

_Let me know how it goes. No pressure…_

 

‘Pete,’ Tony said carefully, forcing himself not to sigh as he spoke. ‘Did a boy give you that?’ He waved his hand vaguely in the direction of Peter’s neck, freezing the motion when the boy flinched, as if he thought Tony was about to punch him.

 

The kid wouldn’t even look at him now. His eyes were clenched shut, and he was digging the nails of his left hand into the soft underside of his right wrist. Tony’s heart was breaking with every second that this conversation continued, but he was determined not to drop the subject. He let Peter take a moment before he reached for his wrist, tugging gently to get him to release his vice like grip on his other arm. ‘Come on kid, let go. You’re hurting yourself. _Let go, Peter._ ’

 

Once he had let go, Tony became hyper-aware of the shame radiating off Peter in waves. _God,_ he had no idea that this would be such a huge issue. It felt distinctly like he was stumbling blindly through a mine field – at any second, he could slip up and make the whole thing blow up in his face. There was no way that he would allow that to happen. Peter meant too much for him to fuck this up with a poorly judged joke.

 

It takes another few moments for Tony to realise that Peter is opening and closing his mouth like a fish. He waits patiently, hoping that the kid will find the words to say what he wants to on his own terms. ‘I – I’m gay, Mr Stark.’ Peter sounds utterly wrecked. As if he had just told Tony that he had run over an old woman on the way to the avengers’ compound. ‘I’m sorry, sir, I’ve – I’ve tried not to but – and I _know_ it’s fucked up – but it won’t _go away_ – I can’t – I can’t stop it, Mr Stark. I’m so fucking sorry, please don’t hate me.’

 

And then, Peter is crying. Deep, wet sobs that sound like they physically hurt are being ripped from his throat, and Tony vaguely thinks that Peter might fall off his stool if he carries on crying with such force. He tries not to think about the fact that Peter called him _sir_ , as if Tony was suddenly just his boss, instead of the adoptive father he had become. ‘Hey, hey, it’s fine kid. You’re fine.’ Tony knows better than to reach out and touch Peter while he’s crying; the last time he did that, he earned himself an elbow to the stomach and a garbled shout of fear (he’s still not entirely sure why, but it’s an issue he’s working on getting to the bottom of). ‘Peter. I need you to look at me okay?’ The response doesn’t come straight away – it takes another couple of tries for Tony to get some semblance of eye contact, even if Peter’s eyes keep flitting quickly back to a spot on the wall just to his left. _It’s enough for now,_ Tony supposes. ‘Pete, I need you to listen very carefully to me now, okay?’ He waits until the kid nods before he continues. ‘There is nothing wrong with being gay, alright. _Nothing._ I could never hate you, kid. Especially not for liking boys. Please never apologise for it again.’

 

It took a few moments, but Peter seemed to comprehend Tony’s words. The relief in his eyes was short lived, however, because as soon as Peter stoped crying, a mask of indifference was being dragged over his features. Tony could practically see him shuttering off his emotions, and he vaguely wondered how long Peter had been dealing with this on his own for him to be able to shut down so quickly and effectively.

 

‘Update complete.’ Karen interrupted, her cheerful voice seemingly in stark contrast to the atmosphere in the room.

 

Peter seemed to snap into action at the sound, immediately grabbing his phone and tapping out a message as he spoke, ‘so have you had any ideas on how to make the Iron Man suit’s thrusters more powerful? Because I was thinking that maybe we need to change the material they’re made out of so that they can withstand the force better – we wouldn’t want you falling out of the sky because of a design oversight.’

 

The attempt at humour fell flat, but Tony chuckled anyway, and forced out a witty reply. He didn’t want Peter to feel like anything had changed after his revelation.

 

 

 

It took another three quarters of an hour of vaguely awkward conversation for the subject of Peter’s hickey to be raised again. Tony had spent a lot of that time not so subtly staring at it, and attempting to find a casual way to bring it up in conversation. If he was honest, he mainly wanted to make sure that Peter was okay, given the garbled confession he had given earlier – Tony hated the thought that he wasn’t comfortable with himself, especially if he was sleeping with people. Something about the whole situation put his teeth on edge, and he wanted to make sure that Peter wasn’t being reckless, but it was hard to find a conversation opening.

 

‘Alright,’ Peter had sighed eventually, his posture tensing slightly with his words. ‘You obviously have more questions for me, so I’ll bite. What’s up, Tony?’

 

Tony smiled in spite of himself – he hadn’t exactly been subtle, he supposed, and Peter was never one to shy away from Tony’s questions (apart from on the subject of relationships, apparently). They’d start easy, he decided, and work up to the more sensitive questions. ‘Who gave you that? Was it Ned?’

 

Peter let out a sharp laugh that – for the first time that day – actually sounded genuine. ‘Nah, Ned’s straight as an arrow.’ He paused for a moment, as if considering whether to continue before he spoke again. ‘We made out once just to make sure he was.’

 

Tony snorted; there was something so very _Peter_ about the response that calmed his nerves a little. It was a massive relief that Peter seemed to have relaxed enough again to trust Tony with this conversation. He promised himself that he wouldn’t fuck it up. ‘So other than Ned and MJ, who else knows?’ They would circle back to the subject of the hickey later, he decided.

 

‘Ah,’ Peter kept his eyes locked on his phone as he spoke. ‘No one.’

 

‘Not even May?’ Tony couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice; he had thought that Peter would have told May before he told his mentor.

 

A blush was crawling up Peter’s neck as he spoke. ‘No, I – uh – haven’t had the chance to tell her yet, and I’d be grateful if you didn’t either.’ Tony nodded earnestly as Peter continued to speak. ‘I was kind of hoping that this –’ he gestured to the fading bruise on his neck ‘– will have gone by the time I get home.’

 

Tony couldn’t help but chuckle at the sheepish expression Peter was making. ‘So where does she think you were last night?’

 

Peter’s embarrassed blush intensified. ‘At MJ’s house. It’s not – it wasn’t exactly a lie – I went to her place after – after I’d met –’

 

Tony raised an eyebrow, willing Peter to go on. He had to admit that he was more than a little bit curious to find out who Peter was seeing.

 

Peter closed his eyes, sighing wearily. ‘I was just a hook up, Tony. No one special.’

 

Tony didn’t think he was imagining the note of disappointment in the kid’s voice as he spoke. ‘Oh?’ He prompted. ‘If you’re about to tell me that you’re using Grindr, stop right there, because I won’t hesitate to ground you. We both know you’re not old enough to be on there.’

 

‘I’m not using _Grindr!_ ’ Peter protested, shifting guiltily in his seat. ‘It’s just a casual thing with a guy from school.’

 

Tony raised his eyebrows. ‘Oh? And does this young man have a name?’

 

Peter laughed again at Tony’s insistence to know who it was. ‘Not one you’re gonna find out. Knowing you, you’d probably stalk him using FBI files or some shit.’

 

‘Language.’ Tony scalded, but there was no heat behind his words. ‘Alright. I can see I’m not going to get an answer out of you, but just know that – in all seriousness – if you ever want to talk, I’ll be happy to listen.’

 

Peter smiled softly, glancing down at his hands. ‘Thanks Tony.’

 

‘Good,’ he murmured. Something told him that the rest of the conversation should wait; he didn’t want to overwhelm Peter with questions he wasn’t ready for. ‘Now, back to the suit – do you think that we should reroute the wiring if we’re putting more power in the thrusters? That way if one fails, the others won’t short circuit?’

 

There was something so calming about Tony’s easy tone, and it settled Peter’s nerves slightly. He was glad that he’d told Tony, and even more relieved that he had been so calm about the whole thing, given Peter’s minor freak out. They both knew that Peter was a long way from being okay with himself, but Tony was willing to work on that with him. He knew that this was far from the last time that Peter would freak out about this, but at least now, he had someone to talk to instead of internalising everything.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, so i actually love writing this fic, and i've planned at least two more chapters for it, so i hope you enjoy them! thank you so much to everyone who commented and asked me to continue this, i'm so glad you did, and without it, there wouldn't be more chapters. Just as a little heads up, this chapter has some overt references to a self harm coping mechanism, but not to any actual explicit self harm. so just be mindful i guess. But i hope you like this!

Tony had thought his talk with the kid had gone well – at least as well as could be expected when he was dealing with someone who clearly had a lot of issues surrounding their sexuality that they had yet to process. Therefore, what he didn’t expect was for Friday to wake him up at quarter to four in the morning a week later to tell him that Peter was currently sat on the roof of some random apartment complex, having a panic attack.

 

According to the AI, Karen had started to register signs of distress from the moment Peter had donned the suit at 11:06 that evening. The tell-tale signature of a panic attack hadn’t started until fifteen minutes before Friday had woken him, however. Peter had apparently declined the option to phone Tony himself, and so Karen had alerted him once the Baby Monitor Protocol had kicked in.

 

Something sat uneasily on Tony’s chest about the whole situation, and he rushed to get to Peter as quickly as possible, not even bothering to change out of his pyjamas before he left. Tony’s mind wandered to all the conceivable situations that could have led to this outcome. _Has someone gotten into the kid’s apartment? Had Peter interrupted a crime and put his suit on halfway through the confrontation (Tony would kill him if he’d compromised his secret identity)?_ Whatever had happened, there was no good sequence of events that ended with this scenario.

 

Tony’s hands shook noticeably in the suit, and he willed it to get him to the kid faster with each passing second. Every time he checked the kid’s stats, he was in a worse state of panic than before, and Tony couldn’t bear the thought of not knowing what was going on.

 

It took a full ten minutes for the tower block where Peter was currently hiding to come into view, and once it did, Tony’s heart plummeted. Peter was sat on the ledge of the building, his feet dangling precariously over the edge.

 

Peter’s mask currently lay in a crumpled heap on the floor next to him, and he had his head in his hands. The sight did nothing to ease Tony’s pounding heart.

 

Peter heard the thrusters from a long way away – one of the many advantages to his overactive senses – and had already braced himself for his mentor’s harsh words about waking him up in the middle of the night. The rate of his heartbeat seemed to increase exponentially the closer Iron Man suit got to his position on the roof top.

 

When he finally heard the metallic clank of the suit landing, he raised his head from his hands and swung his legs back over the side of the building. ‘Hey, Mr Stark,’ he began, assuming that Tony had sent an empty suit to rescue him yet again. ‘I’m sorry to wake you – but I did tell Karen not to call you so…’ His voice seemed to trail away to nothing at the end of the sentence; he wasn’t entirely sure how to continue, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to start pouring his heart out to the robot in front of him any time soon.

 

He could see the suit looking around, obviously scanning the area for the threat that had made Peter freak out. How was Tony meant to understand that the threat _was Peter_?

 

‘What happened kiddo?’ Tony asked, trying to keep his voice even.

 

Peter sighed dramatically. ‘Tony, it’s nothing, alright. I’m fine. I’m sorry to have woken you, but can’t we just talk about this when I get to the lab tomorrow?’ _Or we could never mention it again, Mr Stark, that would be cool too._

 

‘Nope. No can do. We’re doing this now.’

 

Peter let out a soft whine from the back of his throat. In any other situation, they both knew that Tony would be teasing already: _so overdramatic, Peter._ But that didn’t happen tonight. ‘Sir, as nice as the suit is and all, I’d really rather do this face to face instead of talking to one of your machines.’

 

The suit in front of Peter started slightly, as if Tony had forgotten that he was wearing it. He shut his eyes, praying he was wrong about what he was already anticipating to happen. Sure enough, it only took a beat of silence before he could hear the tell-tale noise of the suit being folded back into the bands that Tony always wore around his wrists. _The wonders of nanotechnology,_ Peter thought vaguely.

 

‘This better for you?’ Tony asked, his attempt at playfulness sounding surprisingly natural, despite the panic coursing through his veins.

 

Peter cracked one eye open, then the other. He sucked in a little breath, taking in the appearance of the man in front of him before he burst into giggles. ‘Really, Tony? Iron Man pyjamas? What are you, eight?’

 

Tony shrugged, more relieved that Peter still had the capacity to joke around than worried about what he was saying.

 

‘You’re not even wearing shoes!’ Peter chuckled, rubbing his hands over his face as if he expected Tony to be gone by the time he opened his eyes again.

 

Tony shrugged, a slight smirk gracing his lips. He was more than a little relieved that – outwardly at least – Peter seemed to be calming down.

 

‘Jesus, I didn’t realise you would actually come in person. Shouldn’t you be in bed?’

 

‘Shouldn’t _you_ be in bed too, Pete?’ Tony shot back.

 

Peter made a face that seemed to say _oops, I was hoping we weren’t going to bring that up_. Tony sighed. He swore this kid would be the death of him.

 

‘Let’s sit,’ he suggested, gesturing to an air conditioning unit behind Peter that was the perfect height to make a seat. ‘So,’ Tony began once Peter had settled himself next to him on the metal pipe. ‘You mind telling me why I got an alert from Karen at this unholy time of night when you were meant to have stopped patrolling hours ago?’

 

Peter sighed wearily, and Tony got the distinct impression that the kid felt like he was already a tired, old man, despite only being a teenager. He tugged at the hairband on his wrist, pulling it back and releasing it so that it hit painfully against the soft underside of his arm. Judging by the red inflamed skin around that area, Tony assumed that he had been snapping it a lot tonight. Despite the fact that they both knew what it meant (Peter was having _another_ bad night), neither of them acknowledged it. ‘You – you remember last week, with the whole coming out thing?’ He began lamely. Tony hummed quietly, hoping the kid would carry on of his own accord. ‘Well, see, the thing is, that guy that I was – he was the one who – with the hickey – and anyway, I trusted him. I _fucking trusted him_ not to tell anyone about us until I was ready but –’

 

Peter paused and Tony prayed to every god he could think of that Peter wasn’t about to say what he thought he was.

 

‘We were both scared, Mr Stark. We’d talked about it – our school isn’t exactly friendly to queer kids and – and he agreed that I got bullied enough already without having _fag_ thrown into the list of insults too.’ Tony’s heart clenched with the tone of Peter’s voice when he said the insult, but before he could say anything, Peter was talking again. ‘He said that we shouldn’t come out until we’re ready. But then – today – he was cornered by some of the older kids. From what I can tell, they were throwing around some homophobic slurs and he – when he was asked if he was a fag, he said no. But he told them I was.’ Peter took a deep shuddering breath to ground himself before he continued. ‘Obviously, word got out quickly – you remember what high school is like, right? – And he didn’t even bother to give me a fucking heads up about it, you know? Not a casual “ _oh, Peter, I think I just outed you to the entire universe, sorry about that!”_ So I’m sure you can imagine how shitty that was.’

 

There was another beat of silence while Peter gathered his thoughts together. ‘I’m so sorry, kiddo.’ Tony said softly, not entirely sure what he could say to make it go away. He would definitely be phoning the school to talk to them about their bullying policy, but somehow that didn’t seem to be the right thing to bring up just yet.

 

Peter let out a harsh, watery laugh. The disjointed way that he was talking was worrying Tony more than he was willing to let on. ‘Oh boy, that’s not even the part that made me freak out and come up here.’ Tony’s heart rate increased dramatically again, _what could be worse than being outed to your entire high school?_ He thought wildly. ‘See, after patrol, when I got home, it suddenly hit me that if everyone at school knows, May would probably find out about it from one of them. So – so I figured I would just tell her – no big deal right? – and everything was fine until like ten minutes before she came home from her late shift, when I suddenly thought – if she kicked me out – _she’s the only family I have left, Tony_ – and the more I thought about it, the more sick I felt. I couldn’t – if she thought I was _wrong_ – or – or that I was _sick_ or something. I couldn’t – couldn’t tell her. When I finally heard the door open, I freaked, put the suit on and…’ Peter gestured to the rooftop.

 

‘And now you’re here.’ Tony filled in for him. ‘I gotta say, you’re really brave kid. You’ve obviously had a day from hell, and I wish you hadn’t been let down by your – boyfriend? Ex? – I don’t know what you want me to call him –’

 

‘Can we not talk about him at all please?’

 

‘Sure thing, kid.’

 

Peter snapped the elastic band on his wrist three times in quick succession, and Tony was a little taken a back; he had never seen the kid snap it more than once within the course of a few minutes, and even then, he knew that Peter tended to rely on it less when he was with other people ( _it just feels a little sacrilegious_ , he’d told Tony once).

 

‘So does May know you’re gone?’

 

It took a minute for Peter to answer, and when he did, Tony realised that it was because he was crying silently. By the looks of things, it was taking every ounce of self-control for Peter not to give in to the weighty sobs that seemed to be bubbling just under the surface. ‘Well, it’s – uh – it’s a Friday, Mr Stark, so I wrote a note saying that I was staying with you at the compound because we had lots of work to do tomorrow.’ Even in the dim light, Tony could see the blush that was spreading quickly over Peter’s pale face.

 

‘That was good thinking, Pete. I was going to suggest you stay at the compound now anyway.’ Relief seemed to flood the boy’s body at his words. ‘Do you mind me asking why you were worried that May might kick you out?’ Tony couldn’t imagine Peter’s kind aunt kicking him out for anything, but he knew that his first impression didn’t really count for anything in the grand scheme of things.

 

‘Because I’m sick.’

 

‘You’re not sick Peter.’

 

‘I am – I – I’m sick and wrong and I shouldn’t even –’

 

‘I’m going to stop you right there kid.’ Tony held his breath and counted to five. ‘You are _not_ any of those things. I cannot tell you how sorry I am that you’ve had to hear people saying those things to you, but you’re not sick or wrong. I dread to think how you were going to end that sentence, but you’re – incorrect – about that part too.’ Tony knew better than to tell Peter that he was “wrong” about something directly after he’d used that word to describe himself, despite the differing context. ‘Has Rogers told you about when he knew he was bisexual instead of sick?’

 

Peter shook his head, eyes wide and filled with something that Tony was almost certain was hope.

 

‘Well, before he was _the_ Captain America – right at the beginning when he was just a skinny kid from Brooklyn, he started to get a crush on Bucky,’ Tony began, smiling fondly. ‘And obviously, this was the forties, so he decided that he must be _sick_ – that it was a side effect from the asthma, or the drugs he was taking to keep him alive – but whatever he thought, he told himself that it wasn’t right, so he didn’t tell anyone. And then, he got picked for to be the test subject for the serum. I know you know how it worked, but I’m going to just run over the highlights to get my point across, alright? Bear with me. The serum gave him strength and all, but it also got rid of his illness. All of it. His immune system went into overdrive, and since then he’s never been sick – not even a cold, the lucky little shit. But anyway, after that, he heard that his buddy was taken prisoner, so my old man flew a plane and dropped him into deep into enemy territory to rescue the whole regiment. But you already knew that part, right? See, Pete, that mission – that was when Steve realised that he still had feelings for Bucky, and that the serum hadn’t taken away what he assumed to be sickness. And at that point, he started to realise that what he felt _wasn’t a bad thing_. Love never is, alright?’ Tony sighed. ‘Look, as much as I hate to admit it, Cap is better at telling this story than I am, and I’m sure he’d tell it to you properly tomorrow if you wanted, but the point remains the same: you are perfect the way you are, and you shouldn’t feel bad just because you like boys. I know that you feel like you’ve been forced to tell May before you’re ready, but she’s a good woman, and we both know how much she loves you. Just as a little extra reassurance though, I need you to understand that if you ever need a place to stay – for whatever reason – you will always be welcome with me.’

 

Peter gave Tony a watery smile, leaning down to rest his head on his mentor’s shoulder. ‘Thanks, Tony. It really means a lot to me to have your support.’

 

Neither of them moved for a long time, both caught up in their own thoughts and the comfort of the moment. ‘Tony,’ Peter said at length, his voice sleepy and low. ‘Can we go home now?’

 

Tony didn’t miss the way that Peter had subtly called the compound _home_. But instead of acknowledging it, he just hummed and summoned his Iron Man suit, ready to fly them both back to the avengers’ headquarters.

 

It transpired that the kid was too worked up to sleep alone, and around half an hour after Tony had crawled back into his bed, be felt the mattress dip, and Peter mumble a quiet _I couldn’t sleep, Tony_ before he curled up against him. Tony wasn’t at all surprised at this, and it didn’t take long for them both to drift off into dreamless sleep. They both knew that there was still a lot of things that needed to be worked out in the morning, but for now, Peter was basking in Tony’s unwavering acceptance, and Tony was more than happy to continue to oblige him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone spot the vague Simon Vs The Homosapians Agenda reference? I'm hoping to be pretty regular with updating this, so hopefully you wont have to wait too long for any updates!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> agh, so you guys have all been so lovely about my writing and i honestly cant say how grateful i am to everyone who has commented or left kudos on my work! it literally makes me blush so much everytime i get the notification that someone has commented! Without your support there wouldn't be any more chapters, so i hope you think that i've done you justice with these extra chapters! there should be more along pretty soon! This chapter also contains a few references to self harm coping mechanisms, so just be aware! I really hope you like my Gay Disaster Peter Parker

Tony woke to an empty bed and the shower running. He sighed and glanced at the time, 8:53. Somehow, despite the worry that seemed to be wrapped around his chest like barbed wire, he had still managed to get more sleep than he did on a normal night – and that was with an unplanned trip across the city included. He flopped back onto the pillows and ran his hands over his face. Together, he and Peter would have to talk about what had happened last night and make a game plan for handling the situation with May. As much as Tony loved avoiding his problems, he sure as hell wasn’t going to let his kid do that, especially not when it came to something so sensitive. It was fairly obvious by now that Peter still had a lot of things that needed to be worked out concerning his sexuality – especially given what he had said about himself in their early morning chat – and Tony wasn’t entirely sure how that was supposed to fit in with being outed at school and feeling like he was forced to tell May before he was ready.

 

Peter still hadn’t shut off the water by the time Tony had stopped chasing his thoughts around his head. When Tony glanced at the clock again, he realised that almost an hour had passed. He dragged himself to his feet and made his way across the room to the bathroom door.

 

‘Pete?’ he called, tapping on the door. There was a surprised gasp from inside the bathroom, and a noise that sounded suspiciously like a shampoo bottle being knocked over. ‘Look kid, you’ve been in there over an hour, and some of us have to clean our teeth.’

 

Tony couldn’t almost hear Peter cringe from the other side of the door.

 

‘Relax, I’m just messing with you,’ Tony said, keeping his tone light in the hopes of easing Peter’s embarrassment. ‘But seriously, this isn’t doing anything good for my water bill.’

 

The shower shut off immediately, and Tony felt a little bad for making Peter uncomfortable. ‘Sorry Tony, I – I just got a bit caught up with thinking about what I’m going to tell May, and lost track of time.’ Despite the fact that Peter’s voice was muffled by the thick wooden door between them, Tony could hear the barely concealed anxiety in his tone, and it did nothing to ease his worries about the kid.

 

‘Its fine, Pete,’ Tony said casting a quick glance around the dim bedroom. ‘Tell you what, I’ll go start making breakfast. You get ready and meet me in the kitchen, yeah?’

 

On the other side of the door, Peter nodded, then realised that his mentor wouldn’t be able to see him. ‘Yeah – yes, that would be cool, thank you.’

 

‘Not a problem,’ Tony got the distinct impression that the day was going to involve a lot of him trying to keep Peter as calm as possible. ‘Just shout if you need anything.’ He tapped the door frame twice on his way out, hoping that it would signal to Peter that he had left the room.

 

They needed something good for breakfast, he decided – something that would be seen as a real treat.

 

 

 

Back in the bathroom, Peter let out a short huff of breath. This was not how his morning was supposed to go. _How did I lose track of time so easily?_ He asked himself. With his newfound embarrassment, it took Peter less than ten minutes to make himself presentable, and start heading down to the kitchen.

 

As soon as the room came into view, however, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the sight in front of him: _Captain America_ and _The Winter Soldier_ were currently both crushed into a small chair and speaking in low tones about one of the headlines in the newspaper that was balanced precariously on Bucky’s lap. Peter was sure that he must be dreaming. For a start, the chair looked so small that he thought it couldn’t comfortably seat one super soldier, let alone two. And for another thing, the soft look in Steve’s eyes when he was listening to Bucky talk looked far too earnest to be real.

 

Peter snapped the hairband on his wrist.

 

He immediately regretted it when Steve glanced up, the noise catching his attention. Peter was more than a little surprised at the beaming smiles that both of the avengers sent him. After all, he was just a scrawny kid from Queens. Not to mention the fact that he had been on the other team during their _falling out_ a few years back. It felt distinctly like he had slipped and fallen into an alternative dimension.

 

‘Hey Parker,’ Bucky called.

 

It was then that Peter realised how much of an idiot he must look given that he was frozen in the kitchen doorway, likely with an expression of extreme surprise plastered over his face. He willed his limbs into action, moving deeper into the room and sitting on the breakfast bar, as far away from Tony’s team mates as possible. He cast his gaze around the room. ‘Uh, where’s Tony?’

 

‘Gone to get breakfast.’ Bucky said easily.

 

‘Doughnuts I think,’ Steve added, studying the kid with a soft expression. ‘He said you needed them after the night you’ve had.’

 

The wave of anxiety that rushed over Peter made him feel more than a little sick, and he couldn’t quite meet Steve’s eye. Instead, he focused his attention to where the two super soldiers had their hands laced together on top of the newspaper. ‘Did he tell you why, Mr Rogers?’

 

‘It’s Steve,’ He corrected gently. It was fairly clear that the kid was struggling with something, given that he wouldn’t look at them directly, and the fact that a crimson blush was currently crawling its way up his neck. ‘And no. He just said you were having a rough time.’

 

Peter let out a ragged sigh of relief. He couldn’t believe this was happening. After having one of the worst nights of his life the evening before, suddenly here he was – sitting making awkward conversation with two of earth’s mightiest heroes and waiting for Tony to bring back doughnuts for breakfast. He couldn’t quite get over just how casual and _in love_ they looked, curled together in a position that had to be more than a little uncomfortable. It made Peter’s heart hurt; it was everything he had ever wanted ever since he had realised that he was gay.

 

He flicked the hairband on his wrist again, this time with a little more force.

 

It didn’t take long for Bucky to notice that Peter hadn’t stopped staring at his and Steve’s clasped hands since he had arrived in the kitchen. He shifted slightly, trying to signal to Steve without being obvious. ‘Peter, is there a problem?’

 

‘What? No – no problem here.’

 

Something wasn’t quite sitting right with Peter’s response however, so Bucky pushed on, ‘it’s just you’re – uh – staring a little.’ He said, raising both his and Steve’s joined hand.

 

Peter panicked. The last thing he wanted was to be seen as homophobic. And he certainly didn’t want to make anyone uncomfortable with his staring. ‘Shit – fuck – I’m sorry. It’s just – I – I’m gay.’ Peter stumbled. As soon as he said it, he regretted it, and his hands flew up to cover his mouth in shock.

 

‘Smooth kid,’ Said Tony’s amused voice from behind him.

 

Peter let out a small whine, slumping down to rest his forehead on the table in front of him. He could hear Bucky chuckling slightly in the background, despite Steve’s best efforts to quiet him. There was a beat of awkward silence, in which Peter thought that there was every possibility he could die right on the spot from embarrassment. ‘I was actually telling Pete last night about how you started to accept your sexuality after the whole serum thing,’ Tony said, fondly glancing down at Peter, who currently looked like he might combust if he blushed any deeper.

 

‘Ah, that’s one of my favourite war stories.’ Bucky’s voice was casual, and he didn’t seem at all phased by Peter’s outburst as he reached over to snatch a doughnut from Tony.

 

‘It’s not exactly a war story, Buck.’ Steve countered, joining the group around the breakfast bar.

 

‘Whatever it is, it’s still my favourite.’

 

Peter had yet to lift his head off the counter, but the sweet smell of the food and the calm way the avengers were talking was doing wonders for his humiliation. Tony rested his hand next to Peter’s head; he was desperate to offer some sort of physical comfort to him, but didn’t want to do anything without his express permission (he’d learned to ask about that sort of thing from Peter a long time ago).

 

It took another two full minutes of deep breathing for Peter to raise his head and he was grateful that no one outwardly acknowledged that he had joined the land of the living again. Tony slid the box of doughnuts closer to him, and he chose a soft looking jam-filled one.

 

The idle chatter continued until Peter had finished his breakfast, at which point Steve glanced over to him. ‘So, Peter, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable again, but just to let you know – it was really brave of you to tell us what you did a minute ago.’ Stillness seemed to fall across the table as Steve spoke, but somehow, Peter didn’t feel as anxious as before. ‘I know that it probably wasn’t the way you wanted us to find out, but I’m glad you trusted us enough to say it none the less. Hell, Buck and I are over 100. We grew up in a different time, and we know how scary it is to tell people, even when you know they’ll probably be fine with it.’ Steve seemed to glance across the table at his boyfriend as if to say _was that okay? Did I say everything I should have said?_

 

Peter sighed. ‘Everyone’s going to find out soon enough now anyway.’ All three of the avengers who were gathered around him immediately looked concerned, so Peter briefly elaborated. ‘I basically got outed to my entire school yesterday. That’s why Mr Stark – not everyone was cool with it so –’

 

‘I’m planning on phoning the school first thing on Monday,’ Tony said, his tone leaving no room for argument.

 

‘I’m sorry, Pete, that’s really shitty.’

 

‘Bucky! Language!’ Tony teased, easing some of the pressure in the room.

 

‘It was one time Stark, _let it go_.’ Steve argued, although there was no heat behind it.

 

Peter snapped the hairband on his wrist again, making Tony frown. ‘How’s this today?’ He asked, tapping gently on the band. Peter ducked his head.

 

‘It’s been better.’ His soft tone told Tony a lot more than the actual reply: he was hardly surprised that the kid was struggling, but it didn’t make it sit easily with him. He knew better than to ask for an elaboration (last time that had happened, Peter hadn’t returned his calls for a week, and he’d dropped completely off the radar – apparently it was yet another thing they weren’t allowed to acknowledge directly). ‘Yeah,’ he continued. ‘So now, I have to come out to Aunt May before she hears it from someone else.’

 

He could almost feel the righteous anger radiating off Steve. ‘Is there anything we can do to help?’

 

‘Well, see the thing is, I have no idea what to say – like how do I – the situation –’

 

‘Just breathe, buddy.’ Tony’s solid presence next to him was comforting, and he reached out to ground himself using he sleeve of his mentor’s shirt. Despite trying to gather his thoughts, it didn’t escape Peter’s notice how Tony seemed to swell with pride that he had – quite literally – reached out for help.

 

‘I need to know when the best time to do it is and I have no idea how to bring it up in conversation.’

 

Bucky took a deep breath, leaning his forearms on the table to get closer to eye level with the boy in front of him. ‘Alright, well normally, I would suggest to maybe wait until the subject of relationships is brought up in conversation, but you want to tell her pretty sharpish right?’ He didn’t wait for Peter to nod before he was carrying on, ‘so, it’s probably best that you bring it up yourself – control the situation, you know? I’m more of an advocate of the whole _“I’ve got something I’d like to tell you”_ approach, but Steve prefers to bring up an LGBT issue and work his coming out into the conversation that way. So you’ve got lots of options, I guess.’

 

A stone seemed to settle in the bottom of his stomach. He didn’t often like to think about the fact that he would have to keep coming out to people throughout his life. It wasn’t as if he could tell May and then this whole awkward stage of the process would be over. Every new person he met would be another person he would have to decide whether or not to tell. If it was this terrifying every time, he thought it would probably knock a good twenty years off his life expectancy. The more he thought about it, the more lost he got in a dizzying spiral of panic.

 

Thankfully, Tony seemed to notice that Peter wasn’t able to sort out his thoughts properly because he spoke up so that Peter didn’t have to. ‘Thanks guys, I think maybe Pete needs some time to process, but we really appreciate your input.’

 

‘No problem, Parker.’ Bucky murmured, voice more gentle than Peter had expected. ‘Any time you need anything, you know where we are.’

 

‘Thank you,’ Peter said earnestly. He didn’t think it was possible to express just how much of a relief it was to see Steve and Bucky living so happily together; it gave Peter hope for his own future.

 

Tony gently guided Peter to the lab and tasked him to complete a complicated experiment using a new chemical formula for the web fluid in the hopes of clearing his head a little. It took a long while before Peter started to chatter normally, and even longer for him to finally be able to think clearly enough to make a plan for telling May. He was more than grateful to Tony for not rushing him, and the knowledge that his mentor would stand by him no matter what happed settled his churning stomach on the journey back to his apartment.

 

He couldn’t believe what he was about to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks so much for reading, I hope you don't mind the vague cliff hanger!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, i just wanted to say thank you to all the people who have left messages on this, i honestly cant tell you how happy it makes me, and i hope i'm doing you justice with these chapters! i'm planning about two more chapters after this one, but they might take a little longer to upload. Just know that they are definitely coming soon! this chapter contains like a one sentence reference to a self harm coping mechanism, so just be aware of that! once again, thank you all so much for being so lovely about my fic!!!

As soon as Peter was out of the car, he was rushing towards his and May’s apartment with alarming speed. He had to keep his momentum up. It almost felt like time would freeze completely if he didn’t keep moving forward, and he desperately wanted to get out of the limbo he’d fallen into ever since he had been outed.

 

Tony watched him enter the building with a sickening knot of worry in his stomach; he knew that his nerves must be nothing compared to Peter’s and the knowledge that he couldn’t do anything to ease the kid’s anxiety was almost unbearable. As such, he didn’t head back to the compound straight away. Instead, he headed asked Happy to take him to a coffee shop a few blocks away; he wanted to be nearby in case Peter needed him.

 

 

 

Peter’s heart was in his mouth as he unlocked the front door. He knew May would be making breakfast/dinner before she headed out to her night shift, and the idea that she would be leaving so soon after Peter’s confession was equally relieving and terrifying. There was a beat of uncertainty before he opened the door, in which he considered running away and never looking back. It was a stupid idea, he knew, but the thought of his aunt kicking him out was like a knife to the gut. He refused to lose anyone else that he loved.

 

Once inside, he found May in the kitchen, dancing along to the radio while she prepared dinner (mac and cheese). As soon as she noticed Peter, she started smiling, asking a million questions about what he had worked on with Tony that day. Everything felt so perfectly _normal_ until May asked the one question that Peter hadn’t expected. ‘What did you two talk about today?’ It wasn’t the first time she had asked this before; she seemed to think that two people with such an age gap couldn’t have much in common, despite the fact that Peter and Tony got along like a house on fire.

 

‘Uh – the usual, the suit – science – we chatted with Steve and Bucky over breakfast too.’ _Oh, and we planned how I was going to tell you I’m gay. I’m gay, by the way – did I mention that? I’m sorry basically the whole world found out before you. Please don’t hate me._

 

May raised an eyebrow. ‘You’re on first name terms with the avengers, huh?’

 

Peter blushed and snapped the band on his wrist once. ‘Yup. They don’t like it when I call them Mr Rogers and stuff – said it makes them feel old.’

 

May laughed. ‘Who knew my boy would be hobnobbing with _the avengers!’_

 

Peter was starting to regret not opening with his revelation; every second of normal conversation made him feel worse, and he was beginning to doubt that he could even tell May at all. _Maybe she never has to know. I could just intercept any interaction she has with anyone who might tell her,_ Peter thought desperately. He knew it wasn’t a realistic option, but it sure sounded a lot nicer than the uncertainty he was currently facing.

 

‘Pete?’ May asked, her voice a little worried.

 

‘What?’

 

‘You zoned out there for a minute, buddy. Is everything okay?’

 

_This was it._ This was the moment he’d been waiting for.

 

‘Actually, I – uh – I have something I need to tell you.’ Peter’s heart was already beating uncomfortably fast, and his hands felt clammy with fear. There was a long pause, in which time May waited patiently for Peter to gather his thoughts enough to speak again. ‘I – I’m gay.’

 

A beat of silence. Then another. Peter was already thinking about how he’d have to phone Tony and explain the situation. He’ll have to ask if he can stay at the compound – no matter how nice Tony might be about the situation, Peter knew that it would be bitter sweet given May’s rejection. What was he even meant to say to Tony? Maybe he’ll just run and keep running until no one can find him –

 

‘Oh, honey,’ Aunt May’s voice is infinitely gentle, and before he knew what was happening, he was being enveloped in a warm hug. ‘Thank you for trusting me with this. I know it can’t have been easy.’

 

They stayed wrapped together for a long time, Peter barely believing that what was happening was real; maybe it was all just some crazy fever dream. He took a deep shuddering breath, praying that he wouldn’t start crying.

 

‘Shhh,’ May murmured next to his ear. ‘Don’t cry, everything is fine.’

 

But the mention of his tears broke the dam he was carefully constructing, and he let out a harsh, broken sob. He could feel May tighten her arms around his waist, but he was far too dazed to do anything more than cling on to her for dear life. ‘I was so scared to tell you,’ Peter breathed in between choked breaths.

 

He could feel his aunt nod against his neck, and she pressed her next words against the skin of his shoulder, as if she was hoping he could absorb them directly into his body. ‘I know, baby, but you’re being so brave. I’m so proud of you, and I hope you know that I will never stop being astounded at everything you do. I love you. Thank you for telling me.’ She paused for a moment, and when she spoke again, Peter realised that she was holding back tears of her own. ‘I hope you know how proud Ben would be of you. He always said you were destined for great things.’

 

Peter let out a choked gasp, squeezing May extra tight before he let go of her. ‘You’re not mad then?’

 

‘Of course not. Peter, there’s nothing wrong with being gay. You know that, right?’

 

He glanced away, a little embarrassed that his own internalised homophobia was being pointed out so candidly. ‘Yeah, I – I’m starting to realise that.’ He shot his aunt a watery smile, hoping she realised just how big of a deal this was for him.

 

May chuckled a little, turning back to the oven to give Peter a little more breathing room. ‘So, are there any boys you like?’

 

The question immediately brought back the painful memories of school the previous day, and he shifted uncomfortably. ‘Nah, not right now,’ he said, thinking how different the answer would have been if May had asked a week ago.

 

The tension ebbed slowly from the room over the course of the next three quarters of an hour. Peter still felt like things were _different_ now that he had come out to May, but he thought that maybe it was a _good_ sort of different. By the time May was getting ready to leave for work, the two of them were talking normally again, the awkwardness from Peter’s confession seemingly dissolving over dinner. Peter couldn’t quite find the words to thank May for being so accepting, so he settled on a bone crushing hug and a murmured _thank you_ as she headed out the door.

 

Once she was gone, he fired a quick text to Tony:

 

**Message from: Peter**

 

_I told May. It pretty much went like you said it would. Thanks for your help earlier_

 

The reply was almost instant.

 

**Message from: Tony**

 

_Glad to hear it._

**Message from: Tony**

_Also I got a meeting scheduled with school for Monday afternoon so you can come back to the compound with us after its done. Happy will park in his usual spot_

 

Peter finally breathed a sigh of relief. He had come out to almost all the people he needed to for now, and despite how stressful it was, his heart felt lighter each time he told someone. He spent the rest of the evening skyping with Ned and MJ, the familiarity of it settling the last shreds of anxiety in his stomach.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi guys! sorry this chapter took a little longer to upload, i had no idea what i was writing and it took me like four restarts to get something that i liked. This is going to be the last chapter for this fic, so thank you so much for all your support and thank you for sticking with me! i have really enjoyed writing this, and your comments have all been so amazingly lovely, so i am considering making this part of a series, and writing a few pieces on how Peter came out to Ned and MJ. If that's something anyone would be interested in, please let me know. As usual, this fic contains mild references to self harm coping mechanisms, but it's no worse than it has been in other chapters. just be safe <3

Ever since Peter had come out to May, he had been _off_ with Tony. He texted him less (which was a miracle in itself), patrolled more and was quieter when they were working together in the labs. Tony had the distinct impression that something was eating at the kid, and the knowledge did nothing to settle his nerves.

 

At first, Tony had just assumed that Peter had been relying on him less now that everything was out in the open with his aunt. But it didn’t quite add up. Peter still seemed to trust Tony with sensitive information about his life, and he didn’t act any differently from usual around him. A big part of Tony hoped that it was an issue that he could help Peter fix, and not something he would have to watch his kid struggle through from the side lines.

 

Sometimes, when Peter was patrolling, he would go back to the tower block where Tony had found him after The Outing Incident, as it was now known (not that Peter let Tony bring it up often). He would spend hours just sitting and staring out at the city sprawled below him. It unsettled Tony to no end. Whenever Peter sat like that, he would feed Karen’s live stream of what the kid was doing onto one of the computers in the lab so he could keep an eye on him (there was no way he would let Peter do anything stupid).

 

After a month of Peter dodging any attempt Tony made to bring the topic up, he’d had enough. Tony vowed that they were going to have a proper, adult conversation about this even if it killed him. So he made a plan: Peter was staying for the weekend during half term, and that meant that there were two whole days in which he could finally confront the kid without him making excuses that he was too busy to talk.

 

Once the day actually rolled around, however, Tony had built the situation up in his head so much that he felt light headed and jumpy by the time Friday alerted him to the fact that Peter had arrived. He did his best attempt at casually working while he waited for him to make his way to the labs.

 

As soon as Peter entered, he could tell that Tony had something on his mind and it set his teeth on edge. He snapped the band on his wrist, hoping that whatever the problem was, it wasn’t going to involve a heart to heart; he’d had too many of them recently.

 

For the first ten minutes, Tony was his usual, cocky self, and he spent a lot of time cracking jokes and explaining his tech to Peter. They both seemed to relax a little in each other’s presence and Tony’s jumpiness died down a little. Once they were both working on individual tasks – Tony’s was to add a new algorithm to Friday’s system and Peter’s to edit some of his web shooting options – Tony finally spoke up. ‘So, Peter, how are you?’

 

‘I’m good, thanks. How are you? You seem a little stressed.’

 

‘Nothing bothering you then? Nothing I should know about?’

 

Peter paused and looked up from the computer screen. He seemed to study his mentor for a long time, but couldn’t find whatever answer he was looking for. ‘Okay – uh – what’s up Mr Stark?’ Peter asked wearily.

 

‘That’s what I’m asking you kid.’ Tony said, exasperation evident in his voice. ‘Ever since you came out to May, you’ve been – distracted. I’m worried about you buddy. Did it not go as well as you told me it did?’ Concern clouded Tony’s words, making the end of the sentence sound harsh and accusatory.

 

‘What? No, I told you the truth, I swear!’ Peter could feel Tony’s intense gaze on him, and he shuffled uncomfortably beneath it.

 

He snapped the band on his wrist and Tony’s frown deepened.

 

‘Then why have you been so – so odd recently? You barely text me anymore. You cut at least half of your patrols short just so you can go and sit on the roof of that high rise, and I _know_ you’ve been staying out past your curfew to do it. What’s going on, Peter?’

 

Peter let out an audible sigh and glanced at the ceiling, trying his best to gather his tangle of thoughts into some semblance of a reply for Tony. The truth was, he had wanted to mention this to Tony for weeks. But he had chickened out every time that he had the opportunity. He wasn’t entirely sure why, but it seemed to mostly be because he didn’t want to make Tony uncomfortable or change the dynamic between them as a result of what he was about to say. He sighed again, glancing back at Tony. ‘See – the thing is – I was thinking –’

 

‘Uh oh, that sounds ominous.’ Tony’s joking tone did little to mask the poorly controlled anxiety behind it.

 

‘Yeah.’ Peter grinned guiltily. Tony always joked that he shouldn’t be left to his own devices because he would come up with some crazy plan that anyone else would think was insane. Hell, that was basically how he came to be spider man in the first place; Tony maintained that most other teens would just use their enhanced powers to _“woo people”_ , not run around the city in a onesie stopping crime. _Please don’t let this change anything._ ‘I – I want spider man to come out.’ _And I didn’t tell you because I’m so afraid that you’ll say it’s not a good idea, and then I’ll have to hide forever so that I don’t disappoint you._ Maybe Tony was okay with the whole gay thing when it was still private, but would he still be the same if _spider man_ came out?

 

Tony let out a relieved chuckle. ‘That’s it? _Oh man_ , you really know how to almost give a guy a heart attack, Pete.’

 

Peter snapped the band on his wrist again. He wasn’t entirely sure what was supposed to happen next; whenever he had imagined talking to Tony about this, the conversation stopped there; he had never really thought what would happen after the initial confession.

 

Thankfully, Tony seemed to notice Peter’s discomfort because his expression quickly became serious. ‘That’s a really big step, kid, and _of course_ I am behind you one hundred percent. So, can you just talk me through why you’ve decided to tell people?’

 

The question caught Peter a little off guard. ‘Well – mean, I’ve already told all the important people in my life now – and – I guess given that I was basically forced to tell the rest of school, it just got me thinking that I got to look up to Steve and Bucky when I needed support, and not everyone has that.’ Peter stumbled. ‘Not – not that I’m saying they’re wrong for not coming out –’

 

‘I know Pete.’

 

‘And also, people look up to me – I’m not entirely sure why, but they do – and maybe if someone’s hero is gay, then they might be more open to it I guess. Obviously, I mostly want to be there for the queer kids who might be struggling, but it might also help normalise it in any situation – like for the families of those kids too.’

 

‘Peter,’ Tony spoke softly, making Peter look up in surprise. This was the last reaction he had expected from his mentor – after the initial agreement to the situation, Peter assumed that Tony would jump straight into planning a press release, or discussing the implications it would have on his super hero career. ‘Doing selfless stuff like this is the reason people look up to you. You’re a good kid, Parker. How were you planning on publicising it?’

 

Peter blushed a little. ‘I’ve – uh – I’ve got a verified Twitter account. I just thought I would tweet it.’

 

Tony raised an eyebrow. Despite how up on technology he was, he couldn’t keep up with how younger generations consumed media. To him, the best way to tell the world something was still a good old fashioned press conference (maybe if he was more open to new ways of getting information out, he wouldn’t have had to deal with the whole “Peter turning down becoming an avenger” debacle).

 

It took another half an hour of debating what was best to say before the tweet was posted. Peter wanted just to say _I’m gay_ , whereas Tony thought that they should include a little more information ( _but we’ve only got 280 characters, Tony. Besides, we’re not writing a fucking essay._ ). Once it was out in the world, people took no time to voice their opinions on his confession. _No going back now,_ Peter thought, the knot of anxiety just as big as it had been when he had first stuttered the words out to Ned almost two years ago. Many media outlets were already forming all sorts of speculation over if spider man was dating, and if so, who. Most of the reports were filled with fake news, and Peter and Tony spent a long time laughing at the badly written articles that popped up within hours of the tweet going viral.

 

Given that spider man remained a faceless vigilante, people seemed more than happy to voice their opinions on him without sparing much thought to his feelings. There seemed to be a lot of kind comments, especially from fellow LGBT+ people, despite there being the odd insult sent his way. Admittedly, Peter had a sneaking suspicion that Tony might have been filtering out some of the worst replies to his tweet, given that the responses weren’t half as bad as he expected.

 

The real change, however, came when Peter patrolled for the first time since he came out. Whereas before, he would get a few people a week calling out to him while he swung around the city, now he was getting a few people _a night_ calling out to him. Most were from fellow queer kids giving support, and Peter was more than a little overwhelmed by the impact he was making. He made sure to turn up to as many LGBT+ events as he could – whether in his suit or not – given his busy school and super hero schedule. Somehow it seemed to be just another dimension of his responsibilities; Peter’s new found fame helped elevate whatever issues needed to be talked about, and he was more than happy to provide his services whenever he could, even if it was just to rock up at a charity bake sale. He knew for sure that this would be far from the last time he came out, but it felt good to know that he was no longer hiding in any part of his life.

 

Tony couldn’t believe how brave his kid was. Just a few weeks ago, he had waltzed into the lab with a hickey, and had looked so ashamed when his mentor had asked if he was gay. And now, he was using his fame to help others accept themselves. Tony always knew that Peter was the hero the world deserved, and this just proved his point all the more. There were still times when Peter would question himself, and Tony knew that the abuse and insults he received hurt far more than he let on, but Tony would always be there to reassure his kid, and for now, that was enough for both of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so i hope you've enjoyed this! i just wanted to apologize if the quality of the last two chapters hasn't been up to scratch. the truth is, i haven't come out to many people yet, and given that this is mostly based on my own experience, i struggled to know what to say, especially with Peter coming out to May. The good news is, if you want this as a series, the rest of the fics would be while Peter is still semi closeted, and therefore hopefully my writing would be better! so just let me know if anyone would read more. thank you so much for your support while i've been writing this! i really hope you've enjoyed it <3

**Author's Note:**

> I appologise if the tense changes at any point through this, couldn't quite decide which tense to do it in, and being as i dont have a beta, i might not have changed all of it to be the same! if you have any thoughts on this, please let me know! i'm considering writing more chapters, but only if people want that, so just leave a comment if you do!  
> PS: can you tell that i couldn't decide who Peter was meant to be seeing?? if i write more, i promise i will work it out a bit more


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